RGS-Led Letter Urges DOJ to Act Against U.K. Orders Threatening Encryption

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Reform Government Surveillance coalition, joined by the Business Software Alliance, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA), ACT, The App Association, Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), Internet Infrastructure Coalition, and TechNet, urged Attorney General Pamela Bondi to act in response to renewed efforts by the United Kingdom to compel Apple to undermine its encrypted services.

In a letter to the Department of Justice, the groups expressed concern that secret Technical Capability Notices (TCNs) issued by the U.K. risk compromising the cybersecurity of American users and weakening the global competitiveness of U.S. technology companies. The letter notes that even if the U.K. restricts its demands to U.K. users, any vulnerability introduced could be exploited globally and thus imperil all users of the platform.

“When one country requires technology companies to engineer vulnerabilities into their encrypted products and services, it undermines the security and privacy of Americans and everyone else who uses the affected services around the globe,” the letter states.

The letter urges the U.S. to leverage its rights under the U.S.–U.K. Data Access Agreement, specifically Article 12.3, to prohibit the U.K. from relying on the Agreement to (1) obtain user data from any provider on which the UK has issued a TCN that imposes an obligation to disable or delay a security feature or a prohibition on informing the U.S. government of such an obligation; (2) to mandate a company give prior notice to the UK government before implementing or enhancing a security feature; or (3) obligate a company to provide technical assistance to the UK government to access information.

The full letter can be found here:

Multi-trades DOJ CLOUD Act letter 10.6.25.pdf

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